SURINAME

Suriname has the highest percentage of tropical forest cover of any country in the world. Almost 95% of Suriname is forested, 96% of which is primary forest. The country has one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world, partly due to the low population.

However, despite its potential to be one of the richest countries in the world due to its gold, oil, diamonds and other natural resources, Suriname remains very poor. The desperate need for money led the government to grant large concessions to foreign timber and mining companies in the mid-1990s. 25% of the country was conceded to Malaysian and Indonesian timber companies under agreements described as full of loopholes; for example, the loggers were projected to make more than $28 million annually over the 25-year concessions, but the government would receive only $2 million per year. It was claimed that logging companies were able to escape prosecution for violating forestry regulations because of corrupt officials and legislators.

Partly as a result of pressure from NGOs and the local timber industry, the government set up a forestry project to monitor and control logging in 1997. Subsequently, the government refused a number of concession applications, and the Central Suriname Wilderness Nature Reserve covering 1.6 million ha was established. However, a lack of resources has resulted in ineffective monitoring and lax enforcement of concessions and corruption remains a significant problem. This situation is mirrored in the mining sector, in which both legal and illegal operators are destroying forests, fisheries, drinking water supplies and ecosystems; in 2008 a group of eminent scientists called on the government to evict miners from ecologically sensitive areas.

On a more positive note, Suriname is a member of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO) which has developed criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and a platform for dialogue between national forestry authorities, and is examining the potential for digital surveying of the regions vegetation cover. ACTO believes that the REDD mechanism provides an opportunity for Amazon countries to design policies to rectify environmental degradation. A further positive development is that the Timber Trade Action Plan (TTAP) has launched activities to combat the trade in illegal timber in South America, starting with Brazil, and will be rolling its work out to Suriname shortly.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
01/12/2012	Atlas of Pressures and Threats to Indigenous Lands in the Brazilian Amazon This report presents a complementary and integrated view of different forms of intervention in the Amazon ...	Amazonian Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG)
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01/12/2010	Chainsaw Milling: Supplier to Local Markets Chainsaw milling, the on-site conversion of logs into lumber using chainsaws, is supplying a large proportion ...	ETFRN (European Tropical Forest Research Network)
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01/05/2009	Tropical Forest Tenure Assessment: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities The goal of this report is to present and analyse the state of forest tenure in much of the world’s ...	Rights & Resources Initiative (RRI) & International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO)
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01/03/2008	Timber Trade Action Plan News - Issue 3 This issue relates events and developments worldwide that are inputting into the illegal logging debate, ...	Timber Trade Action Plan (Switzerland)
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01/12/2007	Timber Tags: The currency of illegal logging and forest corruption in Guiana Shield countries This briefing note produced originally for the Chatham House FLEGT Update Meeting in July 2006 reports ...	Janette Bulkan and John Palmer
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
06/12/2012	Deforestation rate falls across Amazon rainforest countries The average annual rate of deforestation across Amazon rainforest countries dropped sharply in the second ...	Mongabay.com
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14/05/2012	Representatives of the Amazon countries participate in the Monitoring Project Steering Committee The first meeting of Steering Committee of Project “Monitoring Deforestation, Land Use and Land ...	ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation)
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16/02/2012	ACTO countries explore possible cooperation to combat illegal timber harvesting The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) held a workshop on the control of illegal harvesting ...	IISD Biodiversity Update
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27/11/2011	8 Amazon countries pledge more coordination in rainforest conservation Eight Amazon countries pledged greater cooperation in efforts to protect the world's largest rainforest ...	Mongabay.com
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22/11/2011	Amazon countries vow to enhance conservation efforts Manaus, Brazil — Eight South American countries pledged Tuesday to boost cooperation to protect ...	AFP
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06/07/2011	Guyana partners with Suriname, French Guiana to combat illegal forest activities Several enforcement bodies were trained at a joint workshop the administration hosted in collaboration ...	Stabroek News, Guyana
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10/01/2011	Sharing power - the end of 'fortress' conservation? Will conservation organisations finally take practical action to implement agreed commitments that recognise ...	Forest Peoples Programme
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25/01/2010	Copenhagen Accord could boost forest protection efforts, though details unclear London - Ensuring that forests and the carbon they store are protected, and that the people who live ...	Reuters AlertNet
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19/02/2009	Amazon rainforest in big trouble, says UN Economic development could doom the Amazon warns a comprehensive new report from the United Nations Environment ...	Mongabay.com
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12/02/2009	Payments for eco services could save the Amazon Paying for the ecological services provided by the Amazon rainforest could be the key to saving it, reports ...	Mongabay.com
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18/08/2008	An interview with Dr. Andrew Mitchell of the Global Canopy Program: Markets could save rainforests Markets may soon value rainforests as living entities rather than for just the commodities produced when ...	Mongabay.com
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13/08/2008	High mineral prices drive rainforest destruction The surging price of minerals is contributing to degradation and destruction of rainforests worldwide, ...	Mongabay.com
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21/06/2008	Scientists call for mining ban, new protected areas in Suriname In a declaration set forth at their annual meeting in Paramaribo, Suriname, the largest group of tropical ...	Mongabay.com
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09/06/2008	Guiana Shield forests help preserve biodiversity and climate The Guiana Shield region of South America could play a significant role in efforts to fight global warming ...	Mongabay.com
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PRESENTATIONS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
23/06/2009	TFT update - progress and challenges	Annie Adams, Tropical Forest Trust (TFT)
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17/01/2008	Forest Law Application Initiative - ALFA	Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (Carlos Aragon)
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EVENTS

DATE	TITLE
Wednesday 20th June 2012	ACTO Member Countries Vision of Amazon Forests. Monitoring Deforestation This official Rio+20 side event is organised by ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation). ACTO ...
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